My name’s Max Hall, and I need to f***. As a pro hockey player who’s been away from the game for over a year, my libido has picked one hell of an an inconvenient time to come roaring back to life.

After my wife died from a rare form of cancer, sex was the last thing on my mind. Same with hockey, the other love of my life. Now, after fifteen months of eating too much, drinking too much, and generally just feeling sorry for myself, I’m facing a steep uphill battle to get my ass in shape and play my way back onto the Chicago Aces.

So I’m not looking for a relationship. Just sex. Yeah, I know how that makes me sound. But the truth is, I’ll never love another woman the way I loved my wife. When I meet a sexy bridesmaid at my teammate’s wedding, I decide to scratch that itch. A fling with Kendra Armstrong in her posh hotel room could be just what the trainer ordered.

Not only is Kendra smokin’ hot, she’s dynamite in bed—one of the perks of being a sex toy designer. Since she lives in New York anyway, we agree to keep things casual, no strings attached. The arrangement is perfect . . . until one of us falls in love. And it’s not me.

Slap Shot is officially my new favorite book by Kelly Jamieson! I absolutely loved it. It was such a touching story about dealing with grief and finding love again. Oh, and there were a ton of great sports moments, too.

Max was an intense character. He had lost his wife almost two years prior and was just beginning to move on from her death. Moving on was tough for Max. It meant giving his all to playing professional hockey again. It also meant accepting that he was able to feel attraction to someone other than his dead wife. His struggle was real, and uncomfortable. It was easy for him to put everything he had into his training and diet, but personal aspects of his life were tougher.

Meeting Kendra completely threw Max off his game. When one night with her wasn’t enough, Max dealt with it the only way he knew how. He made a casual agreement with Kendra. As hard as they both tried, casual wasn’t easy to maintain. Feelings grew and they both ended up in positions they didn’t want to be in.

What made this story so special was the struggle Max went through. It felt real, raw, and honest. I couldn’t help but hurt for him. For Kendra, too. She couldn’t have imagined that a one-night stand would cause the chaos it did.

I absolutely loved the way Slap Shot played out. I couldn’t imagine the story any other way than it was. It was such a pleasure to read. It makes me excited to see what Kelly Jamieson will right next. I really hope we’ll get to see more of the Aces hockey team.